In the art of ink jet printing, a print head assembly carrying one or more ink jets along with fluid lines, valves and electrical conductors is moved from one step (printing position) to another in response to a control signal. A severe motion could be caused in the print head if the distance to a step is short or if the distance is long. Inconsistencies in the settling position of the print head along with excitation differences in the fluid system occur when the print head is subjected to differing velocities and accelerations between print positions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,928 entitled "Unitary Ink Jet and Reservoir" by S. L. Hou et al., the ink jet pen is surrounded by an ink reservoir except at its printing orifice. A helical coil of tubing is wound within the reservoir and connects the ink jet pen to the source of the liquid in the reservoir. The tubing is energy absorbing such that the effects of acceleration on the ink are dampened by the tubing as the tubing urges the ink reservoir to follow the ink jet pen.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,362 entitled "Ink Control Baffle Plates for Ink Jet Printer" by J. E. Thomas. The device of that patent utilizes a movable ink reservoir which directly carries a plurality of ink jet print heads. Within the reservoir there is included a plurality of baffle plates that are positioned to provide individual ink tanks for each of the print heads. The plates decrease the sloshing motion of the ink as the reservoir is accelerated and decelerated. As can be seen, the two aforementioned patents are directed to a solution to the problem of the ink moving away from the feed of an ink jet printer under the influence of acceleration. As also can be appreciated by persons skilled in the art, when an ink jet print head is accelerated to a high level due to the distance between the present print position and the next print position being relatively far away, as the head approaches the final print position, it tends to reach the final position differently than if the final position were relatively close to the previous print position. To maintain a quality print product, it is necessary to have consistency not only in the ink flow but also in the positioning of the print head to the print position.